Echos That String Me Along
by setthingsinmotion
Summary: It's easier said than done, coming back from the dead. *Collection*
1. Echos (Jason Walker)

**This soon-to-be collection of (un)related One-Shots is inspired by all the love I feel for Kolvina. Please take heed of the rating changing from chapter to chapter (you've been warned ;)) Either way, enjoy!  
**

**Kisses,**

**stefan-deserves- romance**

* * *

**_"And though the mere thought of it perturbed him, he knew it was no sign of weakness to let her take him by the hand."_(Rated T)  
**

* * *

"Enjoying your snack?"

_**Hello, hello  
Anybody out there? Cause I don't hear a sound**_

If it weren't for his newly achieved vampire hearing, he wouldn't have heard the softly whisper of that one voice which not so long ago had meant the world to him. With the rain bucketing down as it hadn't had since Noah built the arc, everything was becoming a blur. Sharp contours morphed into vague silhouettes. At days like these even the most origin vampires had a hard time to see their hand in front of their faces, or so he told himself to prevent the poison that was his own existence from eating him alive.

_**Alone, alone  
I don't really know where the world is but I miss it now**_

It's the small things in life that separate humans from animals or monsters from angels.

Kol didn't bother to look up; wrenching his teeth from some random girl's neck, he exposed an utterly frazzled carotid hanging loosely from the wound like a vine twining around a tree.

He felt her presence ensnaring him. For two cents he would turn around, cradling her in his arms and never let her go. But the rain drenching him to the core was like a wake-up call curing him from his lovesick phantasies. They had been there. They had done that. It hadn't worked out.

To make a mess had been his trademark. After 1,000 years of vampirism he couldn't really tell if it's a spawn of his dark soul or a shy boy's chaste attempt to lean up against proclaimed orders. Whichever the answer might be, sometimes the answer doesn't matter as it doesn't change the outcome.

He'd made his way back to New Orleans. The wily fox had yet again cheated death by laughing the Grim Reaper right in his ugly face. Literally. It has been said that third time's the real charm, but to be absolutely clear here, he still might be impulsive, psycho and occasionally self-centred, but he was no fool. He wasn't playing the full desk anymore; being outnumbered, tossed around like a pet and once again betrayed by his own siblings, had robbed him of every ace he might or might had not hidden up his sleeve. He'd already had his third time. The choice to die or live had never been his and it made him feel like trash.

_**I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
Like a fool at the top of my lungs**_

The girl's dead body hit the floor like a sack of potatoes creating a loud pattering sound as it made the puddle splash loudly, helping him to wash away his evident crime without washing his hands in blood. Rill after rill of this petite life source streaming out of the dead body's wound going to waste. Hadn't his mother told him not to play with his food?

His back still turned to the nerve-wrecking little witch whose sole presence made him sick, he admired the beauty of blond hair becoming saturated with muddy water and blood, unable to force back in the laugh he hadn't even known he held. And though his voice was made of an angelic ring, all the months of being dead, resurrected, killed and yet again brought back to life, left him feeling nothing than pitch-black emptiness to infiltrate his every pore, till such time as there would be nothing left of who he once thought he could have been, his laugh would morph into a dark devilish bark erupting from deep within his stone of a heart. It wasn't carefree nor was it relaxing or bringing joy. It was dark, loud, violent and empty. It was Kol Mikaelson personalized;

_**Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
But it's never enough**_

The six months he'd been blessed with as a mortal being, might have been short compared to his vampire existence. But he'd learned the hard way that every impression, however fleeting, leaves its mark. Being back to his vampire self-did have its perks and yet again, all his so called experience weren't helping him one bit as the torture began to take the upper hand. Easy to tell, he'd been out of practise. When again, it dawned on him that maybe, his problem was rooted in the simple and stupid fact, that he never saw the deeper meaning of applied self-composure. Being an Original meant to be beyond any doubt. Kol Mikaelson had never seen the reason for Elijah's self-denial. But he was seeing it now.

_**Cause my echo, echo  
Is the only voice coming back**_

He would never tell anyone – not his siblings and certainly not Davina – how he truly felt. He would just maintain the mask and go his own way, ignoring the piercing feeling clawing at his insides signalling him something he already knew, but had tried to cast away as far as his willpower would allow; His life, once so full of adventure, fun and yes, love had turned out to be a one-way street. He wouldn't tell them how he wanted to throw up from time to time as fighting against one of his most basic urges became almost unbearable. Like a ship on high waves he was being tossed and turned between giving in and staying strong. He hadn't wanted to hurt his love or to hear Marcellus sarcasm-filled voice telling everyone far and wide "I told you so." But he had clearly missed the boat, provided that there had been a boat for him in the first place. He wasn't sure about that, but it had been nice to hope as long as possible.

_**My shadow, shadow  
Is the only friend that I have**_

If there's life, there's hope.

Life's full of platitude, and each of them sucks worse. If you live long enough, you'll come to your senses taking well-meant advices for what they truly are: the last straw catchable when everything else has already turned to dust. There is no such thing like everlasting hope.

There couldn't be.

For that which must not, might very well be possible?

Poor little Emma. Judging by his current mental state, remembering his victim's name proved to be just another painful reminder of what had been taken away from him. He didn't want to remember, he didn't want to refer to her as _poor and little. As someone, who's future had shone so brightly that it almost had him blinded._ The sole awareness how he'd taken her life out of fun, yes, but mostly out of jealousy – jealousy of something he'd never have access to – made all this so unbearable for him. The wily fox had turned into fucking pussy. All he had left were his charms and a persistent determination to save appearances for as long as possible and even beyond.

"Thank you for your concern. Want some?" He pointed at the girl laying beside him. His eyes flickering at the mess he's made only briefly almost shyly. "I bet I left a few drops in her for you to enjoy." Up until this second the young Harvest girl had done well to stay away from him. The blood rushing through her mortal body was an high-pitched aria, lulling him in. She had always had the ability to lull him in though.

She closed the gap between them, taking several steps forward at a smart pace as her boots squelched loudly against the soaked ground. He saw her stopping in her tracks, examining him warily, huddled against the lairs façade, his knees bend. Sinking to her knees, she didn't care to get covered in dirt or that having her so close could cause him to slip it. Davina Claire tells anyone to shove it, and her ex-boyfriend was making no excuse. He could practically hear the echo of her voice ringing in his head, whispering sweet nothing's to him. Oh how sweet. If he could, he would go and throw up. She made him sick.

He flinched unintentionally feeling her wet and dirty little hand coming to rest on his cheek. It was raining and Davina being nothing more than a fragile human being was going to get a cold or a lung inflammation, only because she was too stubborn to understand…"You should probably get up, _love._" He said, accentuating this nickname that once had come randomly to him, that was until he had decided to give it to her and only her. It satisfied him to no end recognizing the flash of hope coming to life in her eyes. Hope that maybe they could start over, that he wasn't damaged beyond repair. But they couldn't because he was. And though it hadn't been first thing on his mind when he decided to give is life a turnaround, he found peace in hurting her. Emotionally though; he'd never lay a hand on her. Flashing his best shit eat grin at her, he revealed small scratches of blood-like particles on his oh so perfect teeth. The flicker of hope gone, he felt his vampire ego hum in satisfaction. It was him who was in charge. A little barely grown up witch wouldn't trap him. Not with her lips, her charms, her sparkling green eyes or her smile. He had had enough of her empathy. She's forced him into this body; she's forced him to work his ass off in order to be the man she wanted; _the man she deserved._

_**Listen, listen  
I would take a whisper if that's all you had to give**_

"Kol…" Her voice was filled with annoyance. Annoyance of his stubbornness. She sounded more like an accusing mother than a girlfriend. Slowly he felt her hand withdrawing and all the evidence left of their bonding was the smudgy strain of dirt glued to his cheek. And he felt empty whether he wanted to admit it or not. He was the last one to deserve such hypocritical interventions. The policy of carrot and sticks – if it weren't for her and Rebekah he'd still be dead. And instead of celebrating quietly how they had managed to get their will once again, they were getting on his nerves.

Rebekah. Fierce Rebekah, the persisting owl always comes back even with the fox lying in wait. There's no limit to her nativity not to see him as a potential danger. Nativity in life is like quicksand in the wild: both resting on an unsound footing with no escape.

_**But it isn't, isn't**_

Thereby the fox has yet to realize the owl's dominating position; while the fox lurks around the tree arguing in a circle not knowing that the owl doesn't feel the slightest hurry to flee, she can either observe the fox' doing or fly away; it's her free will that makes her stay, watching her enemy being defeated by nothing but his own arrogance.

But Rebekah knew him. Kol was her brother and she had known the little kid as well as the murderous vampire and finally – thanks to Esther's maniac mission – she had learned not only about the man he could be, but the man he truly was. It was a lost game trying to conceal something as bloody obvious as his emotional low flying, yet Kol would neglect it or die trying to shield his weaknesses from anyone to see.

Kol needn't to see Davina's sloping shoulders or the sadness radiating from her eyes, to feel it piercing him to his very core.

To see how he broke his back once more, made her sick. And neither him nor her knew what to do. So close yet so far away was unbearable to both of them, Being madly in love does eventually lead to stupid moves one of them being to have endless faith and trust. Despite her narrowed lips, he could tell his girlfriend felt guilty; not long until she'd hate him. It's better when she hated him, for her. For him.

There might have been a change in him taking place but the girl he used to dance with under the stars had remained the same. "Can you just stop messing around?" She said gesturing vividly. "Just look at me Kol, why should I even care about any of this?" fixating him with the determined look in her eyes. "I don't even know why I'm here, Kol."

_**You could come and save me and try to chase the crazy right out of my head**_

For the first time in over a month, Kol was looking at Davina face to face. It was an odd and strangely unwelcomed feeling given they'd spent hardly a moment apart from another during the past six months. He couldn't help but note how outworn she looked with deep shadows under her eyes and a sadness radiating from her identic to his own. It made his unbeaten heart clench.

It's amusing how the way of looking at things change in mere seconds. Karma's a bitch and Kol its favourite stuffed animal to toy with. Why giving her to him in the first place if he'd been doomed to lose her? Did all of this make any sense? His troubled mind hadn't managed to form one in all these lonely nights he had to spend without her. He was done thinking, done searching but no matter what he tried, he wasn't done hoping for an answer to exist. Maybe an answer doesn't change the outcome but the sole knowledge of its existence could turn the world from black to grey.

_**I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
Like a fool at the top of my lungs  
**_

The youngest Original's habit to make any serious stating of facts sound like a joke; gushed with too much sarcasm, was coming in useful to him in the form of his own personal weapon larger and sharper than his fangs piercing through every thin layer of emotional closeness. He's back to his old bad habits and it's a good thing he's got almost everyone to blame.

Why couldn't she just let him be sitting here with his Bourbon?

Maybe because him sitting in front of his and Davina's secret lair did little to testify his mental health. An involuntary laugh was escaping his mouth as his mind led a life of its own developing further what all this meant for him. He took another sip from the bottle, stating how Bourbon's not half as good as it used to be.

_**Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
But it's never enough**_

During his first wild ride as a vampire, human emotions had been an abstract huddle he hadn't had any interest in wrapping his mind around. Being cruel and selfish came natural to him and after being turned by his mother, the essence of his being had intensified. He never granted mercy, he never pitied anyone but himself and he never drank to fight the demons of his atrocities. He couldn't believe it had come down to that.

_**Cause my echo, echo  
Is the only voice coming back  
My shadow, shadow  
Is the only friend that I have**_

"Come on, let's get you home."

The rain had intensified, he could feel it with every fibre of his being and every centimetre of soaked clothing, but as he raised his eyes to Davina, he felt warm and safe. And though the mere thought of it perturbed him, he knew it was no sign of weakness to let her take him by the hand.

_**I don't wanna be down and  
I just wanna feel alive and  
Get to see your face again**_

* * *

**Fin  
**


	2. I'll String Along (Walker and Holiday)

**_"Davina Claire would always be his true love, even if he's not meant to be hers."_ (Rated M for mild implications)  
**

* * *

_**I don't wanna be down and  
I just wanna feel alive and  
Get to see your face again**_

_Home. _The word melted in his mouth as he let her take him by the hand. It took a moment for him to read her clearly flustered expression and note how he was the one who had woven their fingers together – like an unbreakable bond, he held on tight -he wouldn't let her know vocally but it creeped upon him she wouldn't need a vocal explanation. Outwardly he appeared calm and collected, while inwardly he felt like being run over by a train at full force, and with his eyes wide open, he had volunteered to jump in front of the train. It was like he had wanted to be forced to face these pesky human emotions that made his life so more complicated. He wanted to drown in his sugar coated scabbiness, only that he didn't want exactly that. It was hair-tearing.

But he wasn't one to cave in this easily. He was Kol Mikaelson after all; a 1,000 year old original vampire who knew how to deal with his emotions.

Except that he didn't.

Sure he'd had emotions, even if it weren't the finest or meekest. He'd always known how to act on them, how to give into the dark desires that ate his heart. Back then giving in had been easy. But he didn't know how to deal with emotions. As Kaleb he assumed he had done fine, but as Kol, the wily fox, he felt weapon less and exposed. Never let it be said that there's nothing but advantages of being a vampire. From this moment when she had taken him by the hand until he found himself being seated on the old couch at the lair, he'd concluded that a vampire's apparently bright horizon was in actual fact a limited and confined prison.

_**I don't wanna be down and  
I just wanna feel alive and  
Get to see your face again**_

He let his eyes wander, inhaling the room's atmosphere whereby trying to avoid the memories that greeted him cheerfully. Was he supposed to greet them in return? It would be an unforgiveable crime not to do, would it?

"What are you thinking about?" Her voice wasn't more than a whisper taken by the sensible wind holding sway over this lair. The blanket they used to tug themselves in at night was folded together accurately. He had felt bad for not being able to let his body warmth lull her in anymore, so he gave her the blanket. She wouldn't have any of that saying this blanket didn't warm her up when he wasn't around her. And though it wasn't true, it was an allowed whitewash.

"What are you trying to do, Davina?" He said clicking his tongue disdainfully. "Call upon my humanity?" She couldn't have thought a touch and a blanket to be the all-embracing answer? Answer to what, anyway? Enough had been said and done to draw the battle lines sharp and prominent for everyone to see.

_**Just my echo, Oh, my shadow, you're my only friend.**_

As snooty as it fitted him he leaned back into the old worn out couch, flashing her an arrogant smile that didn't reach his eyes.

_**I'm out on the edge and I'm screaming my name  
Like a fool at the top of my lungs  
**_

"Maybe" she replied shortly obviously affected by his presence and the awareness how much having him back with her inside their secret lair clawed at her steadfastness. She had worked out a plan by putting every eventual scenario in consideration; though her own butterfly-like nerves were hard to consider fulsome. She was keeping her distance, he analysed. Or her standing on the opposite side of the lair was only to prevent herself from giving in. Leaning casually against the shelves, she tried her best to remain passive. She wouldn't look at him as she fixated her eyes on some dusty dark object. That's when it dawned on Kol, this little minx was making this up to break him, to humiliate him, in all her mistaken belief that what had worked once would work again. Not on his watch.

Kol didn't utter a single word. He just sat there, his eyes fixated on her, mesmerized by her tiny frame and her wonderful hair falling over her face that he didn't notice his hands violently grapping at the couches backside, leaving marks.

"_It was quite the nice move to make, you know? Not bashing on Josh and Aiden's relationship this time"_

_It wouldn't take long for the sun to rise and welcome a new day. Having been unapologetically late, they were the last to call it a day, besides the bridegrooms. Taking chances becase the glass is always half full, they're walking through the silent streets of New Orleans, his arms protectively wrapped around her and her arm slung around his back. "These heels are going to be the death of me I swear."_

"_I offered you to take you home bridal-style. You refused." Kol reminds her. "Hindsight is easier than foresight, love"_

"_Stop being so damn wise, Kol!" The little witch mutters under her breath. She hates it when he has a point. It makes her feel like a child compared to him._

"_I'm sorry" he relents giving her a quick peck on the hairline. They had needed time to get used to the changes him coming back from the dead had brought along. He's still taller than her, but she doesn't have to get on her toes when she wants to kiss him anymore.  
_

"_No, it's me who should be sorry. I just wanted to enjoy this romantic walk with you and now all I do is complain about my feet hurting." Her brown-green orbs press into his as she looks up at him. "I just wanted us to take our time instead of you rushing us home at vampire-speed." There's guilt in her beautiful eyes and however fleeting, Kol can't help but notice.  
_

"_Well, when darling…" in less than a second, he has scooped her up, her shoes are hanging from his left hand and her arms are enfolded around his neck. "Who said anything about vampire-speed?"_

_**Sometimes when I close my eyes I pretend I'm alright  
But it's never enough**_

He remembered this day as vividly as any other moment they had spent together.

"I don't know what to say either. Hell, I'm not even doing something here…just standing here and all dressed up with nowhere to go." She smiled weakly.

Oh, how he wanted to fall for this smile. Truth be told them being apart wasn't only on her clean sheet; it was on his, too. It was just easier to hate her and making her hate him in return than to face the fact how – no matter how much love he held for her – it never would be enough to win the upper hand.

"About Emma and how I should have dried her completely instead of getting it to waste." He stood up walking towards shelves being the home to numerous of dark objects. "Thanks for ruining my snack by the way"

She didn't even flinch, as she shot her reply at him: "You're welcome." Davina remaining straight-faced in front of the monster had the vampire inside of him humming in satisfaction.

"Anyways, Aiden needs to know if he can still count on you or not?" She had made her way towards him careful not to get too close. She wouldn't give in; he's hurt her to her very core.

"He still wants to play house with semi-dry blot of a vampire?" Sometimes a devaluating wave of the hand is all it takes to wipe away all strings to the things that once made your life important "You still matter to him and he would want you to be his first man. Look, I know you've flipped the switch but…"

"_Kol, we need to hurry!"_

"_Hey, it's not that they are actually going to open their engagement party without the maid of honour."_

_ She just pouts at his flippant yet logical explanation. _

_"I know you enjoy mocking the hell out of me Kol but seriously, Josh has been calling me over and over. He's freaking out. He needs me to be there by his side, like now."_

_God, Davina getting angry is so sexy._

"_Don't you even dare make a move, Kol Mikaelson." The trouble is that the fact, they've been dating now for half a year, had Kol opening up to her like a well-read book. He isn't by far the unpredictable wily fox he used to be; at least to her. And it feels good. Like really well._

_Drying off his hair he flashes his best smile at her. "You would think that a marriage with two bridegrooms to be a less theatricality liaison." Though he sees the pillow coming he remains to play his part and let him be hit by it full force. It's barely more than a gentle breeze, but he let himself fall onto the bed pretending to be knocked out. "That hurt."_

"_Kol…" He smiles feeling the mattress shift and the soft hand of his girl caressing his cheek. Peaking one eye open he finds Davina bend over him. Love isn't a walk in the park and it isn't a fairytale with a guaranteed happily ever after on the packing, but moments like these make him think of Davina and him as the famous exception to the rule. He was the stranded prince and she was the little mermaid who saved his life._

"_Come on you goof, get up."_

"_What's my reward?" he smirks clearly enjoying their little game of cat and mouse."_

_Davina lowers her head obviously making the most out of it and kisses him sweetly on the lips. "There you go."  
_

_And she laughs._

_**'Cause my echo, echo.  
Oh my shadow, shadow.  
Hello, hello anybody out there...**_

* * *

**Billie Holiday - More Than You Know**

* * *

Kol had pinned the little witch against the wall at the speed of light; his arms clawing into her arms pressing them to her sides. He felt her admittedly strong attempt to get free but of course he was much stronger. Her face remained calm, only a glimmer of surprise evident in her wonderful green orbs. "You think I've flipped the switch, love?" He saw her reaction before she vocalized it. She was deprived of her hope for him.

Good. That made two of them.

"You're a manipulative, narcissistic liar." She spat at him.

Was that truly meant to hurt him? If so, the bullet had missed its goal. You can't hit the bullseye twice in a row.

He took a deep inhale skimming his nose over her neck up to her ear. How good she smelled! It wasn't only her erratic pulse or her blood that took him captive – it was Davina's very own scent of jasmine, cinnamon and innocents. "Unless I'm very much mistaken…" He stopped kissing her pulse point chastely, almost lovingly. It put him at ease to have her close to him so much that he wouldn't even be ashamed, if she felt his erratic heartbeat as much as he felt hers. "You loved me kissing you like that." The prompt skip of her heartbeat made him chuckle at her neck. You'd almost think nothing had changed. "But I've never been afraid of you biting me before."

_**Whether you are here or yonder,  
Whether you are false or true  
Whether you remain or wander,  
I'm growing fonder of you**_

Kol withdrew his lips from her neck, making eye contact. "Do you think I want to bite you now?" He watched her eyes going wide – not in fear but in sudden awareness of their current situation. He wouldn't bite. It was as easy as that and didn't need further explanation. No matter what had started all this shit and what he'd done or she'd done, he'd never lay a hand on her.

He must have loosened his tight grip on her arms during his rollercoaster ride of pitiful thoughts because he felt her tiny hands cupping his cheeks forcing him to look at her without brutality. To get her will without exerting any pressure on people was a habit of hers that kept amaze him repeatedly.

"What is it you want to talk about, Davina – the massacre I caused or the young girls that have gone missing during the past month?" He whispered. He whispered all this to her partly because he was afraid of her getting away from him and partly because his crimes weren't meant for everyone to hear. "I only want to know _why_" Her voice cracking towards the end, Davina remained to hold his gaze. How could it be that in one moment they had been happy and drunkenly in love only to become strangers the very next? To her it had come out of nowhere – him avoiding her kisses.

"Why…" To see Kol like this and hear the darkening of his voice was something Davina wasn't used to. Nor would she ever get used to seeing and feeling his pain. There clearly had been something going on he just didn't feel the need to fill her in about.

When had he started to slip from her grasp?

_**Even though your friends forsake you,  
Even though you don't succeed  
Wouldn't I be glad to take you,  
Give you the break you need**_

He wound his arms around her waist pulling her flush against him; his head comfortably positioned in the crock of her neck. "What do you wanna know?" She felt him speaking "Why I killed them or why I fucked them?"

The hard patter of a back hitting the wall was heard throughout the entire cemetery.

"_D, trust me. Kol's crazy about you. You clearly can compete with Aiden and me. Almost."_

_Davina smiles at her best friend's attempt to lighten her mood. There's no better band-aid for love troubled minds than having a glee-marathon with your best friend. And when said happens to be both vampire and gay, it was like hitting the jackpot. "Then tell me, Josh" she says her mouth full of chocolate ice cream – "he won't let me be near him and if I try to kiss him, he flinches away as if being slapped." She laughes slightly at her comparison. Slapping Kol was something she'd never give a try, she'd have better chances in becoming a famous wrestler instead of slapping her boyfriend._

"_He's a vampire, D. Vampire royalty but still…" It isn't easy for Josh to form the words that so desperately want to roll off his tongue. He's not ashamed of being a vampire. Truth be told it was best damn thing that had ever happened to him. But to Kol, the circumstances are different. While Josh somehow grew up drinking blood bags, Kol had been used to hunt and murder. And as far as Josh can relate to Kol, these facts aren't making it any easier._

_He presses the pause button causing Finchel to stop their clumsy kissing-_

"_Look, what I am trying to say is…" he takes her hands into his forcing her to look at him "You definitely have changed him for the better. As far as tales go, he was not only the wildest but also the most violent of the Mikaelson's – which is saying something when you have Klaus for a brother." A little joke then and there can't hurt. "For him feeding on blood bags is far more of a feat than it is for me."_

In his best tried and tested way, he was slouched at the corner, his arms folded over his chest, his glare challenging. "Either way, the answer's simple: "I am a vampire love. It's what we do." Judging the young girl's blank expression, she wouldn't buy it and Kol was smart enough to know that. "We charm, we hunt, we feed and we fuck." While he rattled his speech his stomach was tightening uncomfortably. It tore him apart to be this cruel to his sunshine. He needed her, even if she didn't need him. But what other options did he have left?

Davina Claire would always be his true love, even if he's not meant to be hers.

_**More than you know, more than you know  
Girl of my heart, I love you so  
Lately I find you're on my mind  
More than you know**_

He wasn't going to be made a fool of. For the past six months he had done everything in his power to prove doubters – especially Marcellus – wrong. To convince him and everyone else how much he cared about Davina. How much he loved her and that him being a vampire again didn't change a bloody thing. Not for him though. To her it must have changed everything. Why else would she spend so much time with Kaleb? It had been the ancestor's condition to bring them both back to life. Kol was sure Davina had never meant to fall for Kaleb. And yet she did. It wasn't hard to see what's going on between the two. Kaleb had died a few decades ago and he needed someone to take him by the hand. That's just who Davina was. Of course she helped him. Over the time they had grown thick as thieves. The closer they got, the harder it was for Kol to fight against those natural urges of his. Hed never caught them in the act, but the he couldn't shake the feeling off. His girlfriend's reassurances that he was being overly dramatic only fuelled the jealousy clawing inside of him.

Davina knees were weakening step by step she made towards him, towards their couch. Towards their blanket. "So, you say we wouldn't be at this very point if I had let you go on a killing spree once in a while?" Her face had lost all its colour causing her question to sound like stating a fact. She didn't need his answer. "Like an open relationship?" He let a finger linger on his chin as if truly debating the pros and cons of her ironic suggestion. "I was thinking we would be running one already." He raised his hands in fake innocence. "The blame's on me then, sorry."

He'd never forget the moment Davina had opened the room to his bedroom. With his emotions all over the place and only adding to the hunger and urges he'd been suppressing for so long, he hadn't heard her coming.

He hadn't slept with Jennifer or any other girl of whom he let Davina and everyone else think had made it into his bed. If you have nothing more to fit for it's easy to fulfil society's expectations even if it kills you from the inside. How could he have? But playing old tricks came easy to him. He'd lulled her in at a bar, promising her heaven if she came with him; knowing he'd never let it get this far. That blood bags weren't doing it for him anymore was something Davina didn't need to know about, did she? With the girl sitting shirtless on his bed and the blood running down her neck, the conclusions Davina drew weren't much of a surprise. She had been avoiding him from then on.

And all he'd left was trying to drown his pain in cruelty, blood and Bourbon.

Other than last time, he anticipated her hand to hit his cheek and thanks to his vampire abilities, he was fast enough to grasp both of her hands and pulling her onto his lap. "How could I ever fall in love with you?" She spat right into his face. He could lick her accusations from her lips if he wanted to. "Yeah, how could you?" His hand sneaked under her shirt, feeling her soft skin and the tiny goose bumps created by his caressing "But it doesn't matter, does it?" he whispered his lips pressed against her throat.

"It matters to me." Davina said withdrawing her upper body from his chest, creating a gap between them. "It matters to me what has happened to my boyfriend." He felt her poking his chest with her left hand as if she could screw out his secret if only she was persistent enough. "_Your kiss my ass-attitude_ might fool some people but not me. You can try to pretend nothing has happened. You can further try to tell me our relationship never meant half as much to you as it meant to me. But let me get this straight, I don't buy any of that."

Kol caught her gesticulating hand mid-air and slid the sleeve upwards to reveal a thick silver bracelet wound tightly around her petite wrist. His throat was dry. "You're still wearing it." His eyes full of wonder and amazement collided with hers that held nothing but wonder and…yes…love…

_**Whether you're right, whether you're wrong  
Girl of my heart, I'll string along  
You need me so  
Much more than you'll ever know (ever know)  
Loving you the way that I do**_

His fingers only touching the rare jewel with caution; afraid it might be disappearing, if he pulled to roughly. He slowly let it run through his fingers. "You're still wearing it." He whispered again his voice stuck somewhere between joy and bitterness. "Of course I do. I love you Kol."

Before he knew what was happening he felt Davina's lips brushing tentatively against his. It wasn't more than a little breath. Not comparable to the kisses they had gotten used to share while they were dating. It wasn't even comparable to their very first kiss, the one he had given to her as a bonfire wish; only disguising how much he really had wanted to kiss her. No, this kiss now was sweet and shy like two unexperienced teenagers testing waters. He'd love this kiss forever, take it and lock it up deeply into his heart. It was a promise.

"_And what exactly is it now that makes you think, she'd rather be with Kaleb, a guy she doesn't know at all instead of you, the guy she's fallen madly in love with, so much in fact that she resurrected him from the dead?_

_When Rebekah is talking about it like that, him being unsure about his relationship does seem like a laughingstock. Everyone can tell Davina's and Kol's love is sincere in its depth. "Kol, I know you're sad we couldn't bring you back in Kaleb's body but..." _

_He huffs in soft consent. It hit him like a bucket full of ice, when he awoke in his own body – his vampire body. He had yelled and screamed until he was met with Davina's tear-filled eyes. None of them had said anything, simply because the really important things don't need to be vocalized than they can be just felt. She jumped into his arms and he held her knowing that he'd never let her go. Every pain he was going to be confronted with would be worth it. Being back and hating himself was better than being a dead witch and not being able to touch her. She would be worth all of this.  
_

"_It's easy for you to talk, sister. Not only is the man Davina has fallen for, gone. He's come back from the dead more loveable and humanly than ever. More human than I've ever been."_

"_Do you want me to call Cami?"_

_Typically Bekah._

_**There's nothing I can do about it  
Loving may be all you can give  
But baby I can't live without it  
Oh, how I'd cry, oh, how I'd cry  
If you got tired and said "Good-bye"**_

In silent agreement, both him and Rebekah had written this conversation off as if it never had taken place; very well knowing that every joke holds a grain of truth. His sister and his girlfriend were on cordial terms now, given all that they had been through together. It wasn't hard to love Davina. He'd loved her as a human and despite his infamous past, he had known these emotions to unfold an intensity he'd never experienced before. And this was a good thing, right?

"You've never been in love with Kaleb, were you?"

"I assume just as much as you've killed and fucked all this little snacks of yours?"

The smile playing around the Harvest girl's lips left Kol speechless. "What the hell…"

She shushed him with a kiss. Not tender, not slow and definitely not shy. It wasn't the promise of a new beginning but of a continuation to start where their own insecurities had gotten the best of them. "Like I said, Kaleb is a very good friend…" She giggled when he raised an eyebrow at her clearly disapproving. "It's just that I know you from the inside out, so your reactions didn't surprise me."

If there was one thing in life, Kol hated more than being weak it was to be outmanoeuvred. A quick peck on the lips calmed him and made him smile from cheek to cheek. He was utterly lost and utterly smitten. But the worst thing was, he wouldn't have it any other way. "I'm sorry for hurting you and lying to you. I just felt like this was the only way to get you away from me so you could be happy."

This so called plan had backfired at him, in all its monumental awkwardness. Self-control needs to be practised by will and not by force. "I've killed them for nothing." The realization hit him hard. He had regretted killing them before that's why he had to develop his cruelty to the maximum; he wanted the pain to be drugged - a deadly downward spiral.

"Did you know that Kaleb and Freya are a thing now?" Kol shot his eyes back to hers. Oh bloody hell, could all of this get any more embarrassing? "Judging by your expression love, I'd say there's something you'd like to share." This girl was going to be the death of him. She looked so young when she got all excited and mysterious at the same time. To him, she wasn't a mystery, but an adventure with her green eyes challenging him to figure it out himself.

Davina taking full knowledge of Kol's confused state, continued unceasingly "Oh and, Marcel lets you know, you owe him something for helping with the protection spell. It's harder than it occurs to get a hand on every chosen one of yours."

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

_**More than I'd show  
More than you'd ever know**_

* * *

**Fin.**


End file.
